# 3319
Helen Branswell brings us an important article tonight on the risk pregnant women face with this novel H1N1 flu strain.
This is a subject we’ve broached before in this blog, including.
H1N1 Morbidity And Previously Existing Conditions
But for the latest information, look no further than Ms. Branswell’s article tonight. I’ve just reproduced the opening paragraphs to what is a much longer, and very important, article.
Please follow the link to read it in its entirety.
Evidence of swine flu risk to pregnant women rises; experts urge early treatment
By Helen Branswell – 1 hour ago
TORONTO — There are mounting and troubling signs that swine flu and pregnancy don't mix well.
Six pregnant women in Manitoba are reportedly on ventilators because they are severely ill with the virus. And at least two pregnant women in the United States have died of swine flu complications after delivering babies by C-section.
A pregnant teenager in the Dominican Republic died, as did a pregnant woman in Scotland. A woman in St. Theresa Point, a First Nations community in Manitoba, miscarried after contracting swine flu.
Humankind's relationship with the new swine H1N1 virus is still in its infancy. But people who've studied the issue of pregnancy during flu pandemics don't like the signs they are seeing.
Dr. Denise Jamieson, an obstetrician-gynecologist with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control's division of reproductive health, says she finds the evidence to date "very unsettling."
"I am concerned about this," Jamieson said in an interview from Atlanta.
"There does seem to be increased severity in pregnancy. We don't have hard and fast numbers but there are enough reports that are concerning."
Data released by the CDC last month said at that point, 17 per cent of Americans hospitalized for severe swine flu infections were pregnant women.
